Of Mischief and Time Travel
by she-was-a-rose
Summary: In their third year at Hogwarts, Harry and Ron have a bit of a tiff with Hermione. Hermione studies assiduously, Fred practices mischief, sometimes on Hermione, and Harry and Ron bumble around and find themselves in a great deal of trouble. This story is written for, and dedicated to, tumblr user Catefrankie. You jerk. It's a multi-chapter fic I hope you're happy now.
1. Chapter 1

_ We come upon our trio in the Gryffindor common room a few weeks after school begins. Harry has received the dubious gift of the Marauder's Map. Hermione does not approve. _

Hermione sighed and tried to push her hair behind her ears as she attempted to convince Harry once again that sneaking into Hogsmede was the worst possible decision he could make at this time.

"Harry," she spoke earnestly, "I just don't think it's safe,"

"Oh give it a rest Hermione," Ron said. Harry shot him a grateful glance as Hermione frowned.

"Ronald Weasley, you cannot possibly think it is a good idea for Harry to put his own life in danger just to go to a _sweetshop_."

"Course not," Ron said breezily. "There's also Zonko's. I say a year's supply of dungbombs is definitely worth risking your life for."

"Besides, Hermione," Harry said hastily, "you didn't spend the whole summer with all of your magical belongings locked in a trunk. I need this. I need to get away from school to keep my sanity."

"You need to stay in school to keep your LIFE!"

The boys looked around, grateful that the time of night meant that the Gryffindor common room was almost empty.

Hermione stood up and said angrily, "Harry, if you can't even be bothered to take care of yourself I don't know how I can continue..." she stopped, on the verge of tears, and fled the common room, running into Fred and George on her way to the stairs.

Fred steadied her as she ran into him, and quipped cheerily, "Where's the fire, Hermione?"

George grinned, and Hermione glared at the both of them, then stormed off up the girl's stairs.

The twins came up to Harry and Ron. Fred asked curiously, "Who scribbled in her textbook?"

Harry and Ron shrugged in unison.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day at breakfast Ron scooted over to make room for Hermione as she entered the Great Hall. Hermione stared straight forward and marched over to Ginny instead, smiling at her and sitting down.

Harry and Ron exchanged a look. Hermione was going to be difficult about this.

Fred looked up from the suspicious box Lee had been gleefully showing him and George, and said curiously, "Really, what did you do to break up the dream team? You two had better fix it before that girl finds better friends."

"Why do you think it was something we did?" Ron asked hotly around a mouthful of sausage.

Harry added, "Yeah, Hermione could have done something.

Fred gave them a look that could only be described as mocking pity before turning back to Lee and George. He nudged George and glanced meaningfully at Hermione. The twins stood up and sauntered over to the girls, placing themselves on either side of Hermione.

Fred whipped an orange out of his pocket. "Orange you glad to see us, Granger?"  
George added, summoning a peach, "You're a real peach!"

Ginny groaned, and Hermione snapped, "If you two hadn't given Harry that stupid map I wouldn't need to worry. Harry would be staying inside Hogwarts where it's safe."

Fred and George backed up hurriedly as she whipped around, George making anxious cutting motions at his throat to get her to stop while Fred pulled out his wand to defend himself.

"Honestly, if you two aren't the most witless...bumbling...PAIR!" She shrieked, hurling exploding pears at them with her wand. George dropped his wand in shock and crouched on the floor to escape the explosions, while Fred was too amazed to put his wand to any use. He didn't even shield himself until a pear exploded right over his head.

Harry and Ron shook their heads resignedly over their pumpkin rolls as they watched Hermione's outburst. She was barely heard over the regular breakfast din at the Great Hall, though Katie Bell and Angelina Johnson were nodding appreciatively from where they sat and Draco Malfoy had turned from his regular seat directly behind Harry to perform an instant replay for the ever-appreciative Crabbe and Goyle. The two guffawed heartily, spitting out chunks of pumpkin-flavored mash and sausages.

The twins fled the Great Hall, and chunks of pear fell from their limbs and hair as they ran. Hermione huffed angrily.

Ginny gaped at her. "That was brilliant, Hermione," she squeaked, "but also rather terrifying."

Hermione simply sniffed and turned back to her breakfast.

_In another universe a slightly unhinged Hermione looked at Ginny with a maniacal gleam in her eye and hissed, "Keep the boys on their toes."_


	3. Chapter 3

Days passed with Hermione continuing to ignore her friends out of her desire to protect them. She missed quite a few meals doing so, though her enormous course-load definitely contributed to that.

Fred and George seemed initially to brush off their incident with Hermione, hardly mentioning it at all. However, Fred took to occasionally staring at various fruits and vegetables and muttering different spells to see if they would explode. Oranges shrank. Apples rotted. Pumpkins turned inexplicably into jack-o-lanterns, but not one fruit exploded.

Finally, on a brisk fall day where the air snapped and the giant octopus splashed students languidly with freezing water (Harry and Ron were sure the twins were behind that piece of work), Fred left George at lunch in the Great Hall with a wave and sauntered vaguely through Hogwarts in the direction of the library.

The library was almost completely empty. Considering that it was lunchtime on a Friday, Fred was not at all surprised. Madame Pince had not been expecting any intrusion and immediately caught him in her steely-eyed glare. Fred smiled ingratiatingly and held up his hands in a show of innocence.

"Spell research for charms class," he mouthed.

Since he hadn't actually done anything wrong yet, other than perhaps walking a little too jauntily for her tastes, Madame Pince had to let him go. She gave him an ultra-vulturish glare, sniffed, and reluctantly turned away. Fred let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

A feverish muttering drew him onward to the study tables at the side of the library. He came across his quarry scratching angrily at her parchment with a broken quill.

* * *

**AN**: **I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but I'll not see you again, my friends, until the end of this month of November. I am participating in Nanowrimo, and I will not have time to work on this story until I am done. Please enjoy this installment in eager anticipation of the month of December, when I will do my best to continue!**


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